Senior citizens and persons with disability of Binalonan now have the chance to get employed after the Sangguniang Bayan approved an ordinance on June 4, 2019 requiring all commercial and business establishments to extend job opportunities to qualified senior citizens and persons with disability.
Authored by Councilors Josephine Caburnay, Carl Joseph Patawaran, and Jerry Aradanas, this Ordinance No. 2019-02 is known as the “Senior Citizens and Persons with Disability Employment Ordinance.”
Under the approved municipal ordinance, senior citizens and persons with disability can be employed to but not limited to the following jobs: Educational institutions as cleaners, librarian, canteen personnel, office assistant and student advisor; food courts, bakeries as dishwashers, cook and cashiers; Hotels, restaurants, boarding houses as housekeeper and cashiers; Resorts, malls, groceries as cleaners and cashiers ; Clinics, hospitals, pharmacies as cleaners and cashiers; computer shops as encoder, cleaners and cashiers; Retail stores as cashiers and cleaners and Gas stations as dispenser, cleaners and cashiers.
Commercial or business establishments which refuse employment to senior citizens and persons with disability who are qualified to the position being applied for shall be meted out with the following penalties: first offense- reprimand/warning, second offense- a fine of P500, third and succeeding offense- a fine of P1,500.
Based on Section 5 of R.A 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2010, senior citizens who have the capacity and desire to work or be re-employed, shall be provided information and matching services to enable them to be productive members of the society.
R.A. 7277, known as the “Magna Carta for Disabled Persons” states that “No disabled persons shall be denied access to opportunities for suitable employment. “
Ordinance No. 2019-02 was approved by then Mayor Ramon V. Guico III, now Representative of the 5th District of Pangasinan, while the SB Presiding Officer is Vice Mayor Melicio F. Patague II.